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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Nature Printing

If you find this, or one of my other tutorials, helpful and would like to make a monetary contribution to help me keep wool in my basket and ideas flowing, I'd be so grateful. By clicking the "Buy Now" button below you can choose your own price for the tutorial. It's completely optional, but oh so appreciated.

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Nature prints are such a fun, easy, nearly free project that will bring a beautiful bit of botanical goodness to your home. Give it a try and see what you think.

Step 4: Cover your leaf with wax paper and carefully roll over it with your brayer or rolling pin

Step 5: Peel off your leaf and marvel at your design

It's really quite simple, but a few tips for success: choose a leaf that lays flat and behaves. Leaves that are all willy-nilly won't make for good prints. Don't put too much paint on your leaf or you'll end up with a gloppy mess. Don't press too hard with your brayer, you want to make a print, not embed the leaf into the canvas. Try it out on a piece of scrap first and once you get the hang of it, print away!

I had several odd frames that I painted black and I printed on a piece of canvas drop-cloth that I had in the studio. (You can purchase them relatively inexpensively at your local hardware store) Printing on paper will give you a more crisp image, but I was going for something loose and organic. Experiment! The leaves, ferns, and weeds all came from the backyard. I think it would also be fun to take a print from a slice of wood, or long vines....maybe I'll try that next.

This is a great project for the kids too. Get them involved and see what happens. Maybe make some pillows, print on t-shirts, make one of a kind cards...so many possibilities! Have fun!

Lisa,Your tutorial is so simple and yet, the result is so elegant. The color scheme is stunning. The arrangement on the wall as well as putting "the bowl" on chair below is a shot from a magazine!! Love it!